Nicola Lacey: "Criminal Justice and Social Justice"

Abstract:

The obstacles to achieving criminal justice in a society marked by structural injustice have
long been recognised. Inequalities in social attitudes to certain groups and in the
distribution of resources and opportunities in fields ranging from family life, education,
health, shelter and employment are most obviously relevant, while the experience of
abuse, prejudice or nutritional or emotional deprivation affects both life opportunities and
psychological development. The threat to the legitimacy of punishment is particularly
acute when the state itself bears responsibility for creating, or failing to alleviate, the
relevant conditions. Doing criminal justice remains important, however, because
disproportionalities in the impact of criminalisation and punishment on groups
disadvantaged by injustice are matched by comparable disproportionalities in criminal
victimisation. This challenge has been exacerbated by the growth and embedding of
economic inequalities. This paper considers the implications for criminal justice systems,
and for the re-emergence of new forms of criminal justice abolitionism.